City Council has voted 27 to 17 against a motion brought by Councilor John Campbell (Ward 4) to withhold $260,000 in annual funding to Pride Toronto. The motion asked for this defunding unless Pride permitted uniformed police officers to march in the annual parade. The results reveal a Council divided in what some might call logic. Kristin Wong-Tam (Ward 27) argues that the ban on police uniforms is “inclusive.” Others appear to have followed a political strategy of keeping peace with the LGBTQ community and perhaps Black Lives Matter. Those in favor of defunding consider the Pride ban a rejection of the police “as police” and an insult to City employees. Locally, Josh Matlow voted to sustain the funding while Jon Burnside, Jaye Robinson and Christin Carmichael Greb voted to suspend it.
